The hollow land

He left the hollow land behind, the burlap grasses and broken stones. The honeycombed smells of wood smoke and culled apples fell away. Consideration of a good fire made him feel ashamed, but one night would become another, and then. Time is just as long as she needs to be, said Emma. Don’t be afraid to let time know your plans. That Old Woman likes to laugh.

He kissed her, and he tasted cider on her breath, and something duskier. He knew he could be a cold man, and it was not something he asked for. But he felt obliged to that coldness. When she asked him to kill someone for her, he knew how to answer.